Labor & Delivery

At my 37 week appointment my doctor asked me if I wanted to have my membranes stripped. I was not prepared for that question at all because I had an induction scheduled the following week. What could it hurt? I’d rather go into labor on my own then have to be induced the following week. The month of February was scheduled to be a crazy one for us. My husband’s birthday, my son’s birthday, my son’s surgery, and of course we were having a baby all within three weeks. It makes life a little complicated and hard to schedule.

I agreed to have my membranes stripped, and as I was leaving the office I stopped in to schedule my induction. I joked with the nurses that I just had my membranes stripped. They laughed because apparently doctor has a reputation of getting labor started. They told me that I wouldn’t make it to my induction date, and that I probably wont even make it till Monday. I blew that off because with my first it took three days after getting my membranes stripped to go into labor. I headed home to clean the house and pack my bags then headed to meet up with friends for a group date night. Childcare was provided for the date night which gave my husband and I a chance to hang out with friends and not worry about a crazy toddler running around.

I told my friends they needed to stop making me laugh because I was going to go into labor. Sure enough on my way home from date night I had my first contraction at 9:30 PM. My husband and I drove separately so I called him to let him know and asked him to call his mom so she could drive here. His mom lives four hours away so I figured if she headed to our house now we would have plenty of time. Once we got home I went upstairs to take a bath and relax. The contractions slowly got more intense but it wasn’t anything that I couldn’t walk or talk through so I knew I was still in the beginning stages. I called the OB line and I told my husband we needed to go to the hospital. The contractions ranged from 3 minutes apart to 7 minutes apart; at this point it was only 11 PM.

With his mom being four hours away and no family in town to watch our son I called a friend and she made her way over. We left the house at midnight and made our 30 minute drive to the hospital. My husband dropped me off at the door and I began to fill out paperwork while my contractions were getting more intense. I took a seat in the lobby after checking in, and it wasn’t long before they called me back to triage.

The nurses came to check how dilated I was – 4 cm. I thought to myself you have got to be kidding me only 4 cm? By this point the contractions had gotten pretty intense and I was ready for my epidural. I asked the nurses who the on call doctor was. When they said his name my jaw dropped. It was the same Doctor who had sent me home when I was in labor with my first son. I really liked him, but didn’t want to be discharged. I begged them not to send me home; they said they would talk to the doctor and see what they could do. I assured them that I had fast labors and that it probably wouldn’t be very long.

They returned to the room and informed me that I had been admitted, and they promptly began bloodwork. A strange feeling came over me and I immediately knew that I was either going to pass out or vomit… possibly both. I let the nurses know and sure enough I got sick. At this point it’s 1 AM and the nurse is still trying to draw my blood for lab work. I’m remaining as still as I possibly can. I’m just hoping that this part ends quickly and I can get to my room and get my epidural. The nurses checked me again and I was 5 cm dilated. They recommended wheeling me to the room rather than having me walk or sit in a wheelchair. By that point it was 1:10 AM and I was exhausted.

I finally made it to my room, and they transferred me to the bed. The triage nurses introduced me to the temporary nurse who would stay with me until my labor and delivery nurse arrived. She hooked me up to the monitor when the doctor walked in. He needed to do another cervical check. 10 cm dilated. Are you serious? My mind was running a million miles a minute… how was I already 10 cm dilated it had only been 15 minutes! The doctor broke my water and then left the room to check on another patient.

The next 20 minutes were a blur. The nurses were rushing to set up the tray and the bed hadn’t even been put together for delivery yet. I’m asked my nurse for my epidural and she just looked at me with a blank face. She didn’t have to say a word. I knew that stare meant the baby was coming and there was no time. The nurses began questioning each other where the doctor was, “did you page him again?” I heard a million times. “She’s precept” The nurse repeated to everybody who walked in the room. I looked at the clock 1:25 AM. How has it only been 10 minutes since I got to the room.

The doctor came back in the room and told me it was time to push. “I can’t do it, this is not what I wanted. This is not how I wanted it to go.” I wasn’t the type of person who made a birth plan, but I did know that I wanted that epidural. I’m was having to hold my own legs up because the stirrups were not even attached to the bed yet. I still can’t even comprehend everything that was going on because it all went so quickly.

I remember finally giving into my contractions. I told myself “I can do this, my body was designed for this.” I started to repeat that out loud over and over again; it seemed like it was helping but I was still fighting the contractions. I told one of the delivery nurses that I just wanted to scream. Then she gave me the best advice of all. She told me to scream, and I did. Suddenly pushing didn’t seem so bad after all I was ready for this I could do this. Then the doctor told me to stop pushing. Are you kidding me stop pushing? Is he crazy? Doesn’t he know that I’m not actually processing this my body is just doing it. Then he looked at me again but this time he was more serious “stop pushing” he told me. I stopped. I was trying so hard to hold back and it felt like forever just waiting those contractions out. Then he told me one more gentle push and my son was born.

1:43 AM they put that baby boy on my chest immediately after delivery. I was a little confused why they didn’t confirm about delayed cord clamping or why my husband didn’t cut the cord. In the moment none of that mattered. The room started to calm down… nurses left, the doctor finished everything he needed to do and my husband and I enjoyed our newborn son. Once everyone left my husband informed me that our son had the cord wrapped around his neck. He could sense things in the room that I didn’t notice Like the the stats dropping on the monitor, and the tenseness around everyone. While I wanted my husband to be a part of the delivery he was exactly where he needed to be… he was holding my hand and supporting me through something so exhausting and so beautiful.

Four hours. The amount of time from my first contraction until I was holding my baby boy. I went into my pregnancy knowing I wanted an epidural and left that labor and delivery room saying if we had another kid I didn’t want an epidural (not that I would have time for one even if did!). At my recent 6 week checkup I joked with my doctor that if we had another child I’m booking myself a room as soon as I leave my 37 week doctors appointment.

Unique, each persons delivery is different. None are better, none are worse. Birth is an amazing thing and it is perfect in its own way.